This post is to summarise some of the things I’ve been doing, seeing, reading and watching since the start of the course that have inspired me or contributed to what I’m thinking about in my work. I may add to or edit this over time:
I went to the counter-protest to the Unite the Kingdom demonstration in September, before the course started. Despite being massively outnumbered, I saw an amazing selection of trade union banners in the counter-protest crowd.
After the “Methods of investigating” brief, I continued reading Georges Perec’s “Species of Spaces” and particularly enjoyed the chapter “Attempt at an Inventory of the Liquid and Solid Foodstuffs Ingurgitated by Me in the Course of the Year Nineteen Hundred and Seventy-Four”, towards the end of the book, which describes every dish he ate in quantity over a year.
I attended Frieze and Frieze masters for the first time, because my friend had a free ticket going. I saw some interesting and some really bad art. There was a lot of AI generated imagery, including a wall of AI people kissing which I couldn’t tell if it was meant to be ironic or not. I saw a great painting of some hags dancing in a cave, lots of amazing medieval swords and suits of armour. I got to see some works by Alighiero Boetti, Man Ray, Laslo Moholy-Nagy, Paula Rego, Josef Albers and many others which I really enjoyed. It’s a good place to people watch and enjoy the general spectacle, but it is depressing to think that so much of this work will probably be sold to private collectors and be inaccessible for the public for the foreseeable.
Kerry James Marshall at the Royal Academy. I loved this exhibit, it was amazing to see his work in person. I particularly liked the use of text and painted lettering, symbolism, collage and prevalent use of glitter. I also thought the way he paints a space is so unique and really tells a story, as shown in De Style (1993), above.
One of my favourite works was “Knowledge and Wonder” which was painted for the Chicago Public Library. Apparently this painting was pulled from an auction in 2018 where it was due to sell for $15 million.
I recently watched the anime film “Millenium Actress” by Satoshi Kon. It’s a great example of non-linear storytelling via animation, and media referencing itself. The story travels through different eras of history, noting different moments in Japanese cinema. I also watched (and loved) “It Follows” by David Robert Mitchell and “The Hunting Wives” tv series. I was completely taken in by this 30 minute YouTube documentary about a mystery man leaving bottles or urine on an electrical box in California.
I also watched the documentary “Enigma” by Zachary Druker. It focuses on the lives of two women, April Ashley and Amanda Lear, one who identifies as trans and one who has lived in dispute with claims she is trans. It’s a really interesting exploration of what it means to have agency and to control our own narrative. But also, whether we owe it to those undergoing the same struggles as us to represent our communities, or whether we should live life in a way that is authentic to us as an individual.
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